Contactless credit cards won't replace cash

By Julie Sherrier

Firms such as Barclaycard have been championing the technology, which allows people to simply swipe their cards for purchases less than £10. However, Sandra Quinn, Apacs director of communications, suggested that there will still be a place for cash in the UK.

"Contactless cards are only for transactions that are under £10 anyway," she explained.

"You've still got 8bn transactions a year for transactions that are over £10 -- that's quite a lot of transactions."

Ms Quinn's comments follow a report by ATM operator Bank Machine, which suggested that the British love of tradition means that the UK will never become a cashless society. The study also cited resistance from retailers and concerns of the authenticity of electronic money compared with cash as reasons why Britons will be reluctant to stop using "traditional" money.